Nebraska seventh in B1G soccer poll

Penn State has been chosen as the favorite to win the Big Ten Conference women’s soccer championship in 2017, according to the Big Ten preseason coaches’ poll announced Monday. Nebraska has been picked to finish seventh.

The Nittany Lions, who earned a share of their 18th Big Ten title in 19 years last season, were the top choice in the 2017 Big Ten preseason poll from the conference’s 14 head coaches. Northwestern, which claimed a piece of its first-ever Big Ten crown last season and advanced to the third round (Sweet Sixteen) of the NCAA Championship for the second time in program history, placed second in this year’s preseason poll, while 2015 NCAA Women’s College Cup semifinalist Rutgers, which has reached the Big Ten Tournament title game the past two seasons, was picked third.

Rounding out the top five in the team balloting were Michigan and Minnesota. The Gophers shared the 2016 Big Ten title with Penn State and Northwestern before winning the Big Ten Tournament for the second time in program history.